Lesson Plan takes on Lake Erie

We locked through the Black Rock Lock (say that three times)
with Miss Buffalo

We had one more lock after the Erie Canal, the lock on the Niagara River Canal.  On the north side of the canal Lake Erie was flowing rapidly toward Niagara Falls (glad we turned left rather than right).  As we approached the lock I called them up on the radio, Black Rock Lock, Black Rock Lock, Black Rock Lock, (try saying that three times), this is the sailing vessel Lesson Plan. I was proud to say this is the Sailing Vessel.  For nearly two weeks we have been the vessel Lesson Plan.

The Bascule Bridge after the Black Rock Lock

As we approached the bascule bridge after Black Rock Lock Miss Buffalo called us on the radio and said she was going to pass us in the port side.  We slowed a bit to allow her to pass. And then she just paced us, so we decided to pass her back and get on toward the Buffalo Yacht Club, our next stop.  So we radioed her and told her we were going to pass on her starboard (right). We passed her and was traveling along nicely when Gary said, hey what does that sign over there say, there is a lot of sailboats there.  I said I can't read it, but we still have a ways to to Buffalo Yacht Club (as I looked at the chart). Oops that was BYC.  "Miss Buffalo, this is Lesson Plan, we are going to slow and let you pass, because we just missed our turn to Buffalo Yacht Club", a little chagrined.

As we pulled into the Buffalo Yacht Club a gentleman who was sitting on his boat a couple of slips down from the slip we had been assigned  came to help us with the lines. It was fortunate for us that Mike McGee was sitting on his boat that day.  We got Lesson Plan snugged into her slip for the night and Mike offered us a beer.  We sat and chatted a while and learned a lot about Lake Erie and the Buffalo area.

Bar at the Buffalo Yacht Club

The Buffalo Yacht Club is the third oldest Yacht Club in America.  The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 spurred the growth of Buffalo, which included yachtsmen from the east coast. Early in August 1859 a small group initiated action to form the Buffalo Yacht Club and on August 10, 1860 they adopted a constitution and by-laws.

We originally had A course charted to Dunkirk, NY as our next stop, but Mike suggested that we take advantage of the northeast wind and cruise on to Erie, PA.  So we charted a course for the Erie Yacht Club and went to dinner.

Thanks to Mike's suggestion we made it to the Erie Yacht Club the next day (after being boarded by the Coast Guard).  We found that the Erie Yacht Club was not nearly as friendly as the Buffalo Yacht Club.  Since they are the younger sibling of BYC, I guess they feel they still have something to show and have a bit of a chip on the shoulder. There were certainly a few friendly people at EYC, but not nearly like BYC.  Gary and I both agreed that BYC was the better stop.

From EYC we traveled on to Fairport Harbor and spent our first night at anchor.  You already know how I like a peaceful night at anchor, and this was one.  We had a little company early in the evening. But since it was Sunday night, most of the other boaters cleared out by 8:00 PM and we enjoyed a great sunset through the trees.

The night was not without issue. About 3 AM I hear Gary scrambling out of his cabin saying we are dragging anchor (the anchor alarm is above his berth).  It was a pretty calm night I wasn't sure what was going on.  The wind had shifted 180 degrees and since we didn't get the anchor alarm set as soon as we dropped the anchor we drifted out of the anchor alarm zone.  Glad we didn't have another anchor dragging incident. We went back to bed. I slept well, but I am not sure Gary did after that.  The next morning we hauled anchor and headed toward Sandusky, where we would meet Steve Stahl for the crew change.

Lessons Learned:  Seek out local information and take advantage of it when you can.

Check out the map for more pictures (click on the way point and then the link).

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